The Inka Road stretches 20,000 miles across South America. Providing a vital link between the administrative and spiritual capitals of the ancient Inka world, it is still in use today and deemed a World Heritage Site by the United Nations. This exhibit at the National Museum of the American Indian explores its engineering history in terms of technology, politics and culture.

The National Portrait Gallery showcases 20 portraits by Civil War photographer Mathew Brady depicting famous figures from President Lincoln’s time. Subjects ranging from P. T. Barnum to inventor Samuel Morse and clergyman Henry Ward Beecher reflect the diversity of American cultural and intellectual life during the era.

The Renwick Gallery reopened last fall after an extensive renovation; now, an installation of artworks taken from the museum’s permanent collection will explore the value of craft in the modern world. More than 80 objects on view will include such new acquisitions as stained glass by Judith Schaechter, wood sculpture by Wendell Castle and cast glass by Karen Lamonte.

This ongoing exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts showcases its renowned collection of 280 objects made by Russian decorative artists—including five imperial Easter eggs by Fabergé. A jeweler for the court of Tsar Nicholas, this master craftsman fled Russia after the 1918 revolution; what remains of his work offers a glimpse into a vanished era.

The Hirshhorn Museum’s distinctive circular façade is the perfect showcase for a monumental outdoor mural by New York-based Swiss artist Nicolas Party. Painted directly on the museum’s exterior wall over a period of two weeks, it depicts a panoramic landscape of sunrises and sunsets.

Nearly 60 remarkable jewels from Marjorie Merriweather Post’s extensive collection of historical and 20th-century jewelry will be showcased in an exhibition at the Hillwood Museum. A connoisseur, Post commissioned pieces from Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Harry Winston and more. Among the most significant: an emerald-and-diamond pendant brooch made by Cartier in the 1920s out of 250 carats of carved Indian emeralds; and the renowned Blue Heart Diamond.

“Trace,” a monumental installation at the Hirshhorn Museum by the provocative Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, is comprised of 176 portraits of activists, prisoners and free-speech advocates—all made of LEGOs. A 360-degree wallpaper installation is also part of the mix.

The Renwick Gallery’s Bettie Rubenstein Grand Salon will provide the backdrop for a visual puzzle in the form of a suspended structure running along its ceiling that examines trompe l’oeil effects and multiple vanishing points to create a sense of architectural volume.